


The Spider and the Mechanic

by spacegayinlove



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ben Parker Lives, M/M, Multi, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Trans Male Character, Trans Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 15:34:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21660466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacegayinlove/pseuds/spacegayinlove
Summary: Harley, the new kid, becomes Peter's friend. Peter becomes Spiderman. Amidst a whirlwind of new and complicated things to navigate, Peter tries to figure out who he is, who he can become, and who he wants to be.-A Peter/Harley fic because the world needs more of them and we didn't get any canon interaction. Basically, they're both superheroes, but also friends irl, which leads to shenanigans.Will add tags as necessary after updating.
Relationships: Betty Brant/Ned Leeds, Harley Keener/Peter Parker
Kudos: 24





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic that I'm actually publishing! Oh boy.  
> I thought to myself that there was not enough Harley/Peter fics, and someone should really do something. So I did.  
> Probably slow updates because I'm a bastard with ADHD and the inability to write for more than half an hour at a time without going feral. Anyone who actually reads this, I'm sorry for the hell I might put you through. But if it's been a hot minute since I updated, PLEASE feel free to shoot me a comment or message asking if I'm working on an update!

Harley Keener had the whole school in the palm of his hand.

The first time Peter fully realized how popular Harley was was the time their science class took a field trip to a nearby farm. They were learning about how farms used different pesticides, which ones were better for both the soil and the crops, and how to tell if harmful ones were being used and how to avoid them. Harley, as most of the class, wasn’t too interested in what they were learning about. Sometime during lunch, he snuck off and returned back with some strawberries from the field a little away from them. Practically the entire class gathered around him, fawning over him and praising him for his boldness. It wasn’t until Harley showed Peter a ziploc baggie with a few strawberries in it on the bus ride home with a smug look did Peter understand that he had, and how, he tricked their classmates.

The next time was when Harley was running for junior class rep. He didn’t even plan on running, but it was just Flash running for the first week, and not even the popular kids really truly wanted that. A friend suggested that he run, and within a day or two, he had posters up all over the school. He won by a landslide, obviously - with him in the running, Flash didn’t stand a chance.

And then there was the time he was crowned homecoming king. When he started a food fight and somehow didn’t get in trouble for it even though there were almost definitely several ways he should’ve been caught. When he led the annual bonfire. When he was yearbook manager. When he and his team won the popular vote (as well as judges’ choice) in the Science Olympiad competition. When he got on the baseball team even though this was his first year at the school.

Harley Keener had the whole school in the palm of his hand, and Peter Parker was no exception.


	2. Chapter 1

Peter couldn’t see what was supposed to be so fun about this field trip. It was for social studies, which he hated - he only went on it to get out of class for the day. It was overcast, and cold, and it was almost certainly going to rain by lunch time (his weather app read 89% chance of precipitation). Everyone on the bus was loud, the ride took an hour, and instead of the regular two teachers, which were tolerable at best, there was a temp who had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Ned was out sick, and while that would make it easier for pairing off when it came time for group work, it didn’t feel right without him.

Peter got off the bus, idly standing off to one side and watching MJ entice a pigeon onto her hand - a common occurrence on school trips, if he was being honest - while the rest of the students filed off the buses and the teachers made sure that they were all accounted for.

And then Peter felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned, half expecting it to be Ned before he remembered that he was gone, and came face-to-face with a very close, _very_ energetic Harley Keener. “Hey,” Harley grinned, which earned a flustered smile from Peter. “My friends all paired up without me. Wanna be a group?”

Peter’s heart jumped into his throat. Harley Keener, resident cool kid, wanted to be his partner? A surprising event, especially when half the class wouldn’t look at him on a daily basis.

“Yeah, sure,” Peter managed to get out. He realized too late that since Ned wasn’t there, that left MJ to be by herself. Before he could turn and apologize, she was already giving him a thumbs up and wandering off to find her almost-girlfriend. Peter looked back at Harley, who gave him another smile.

“So, Ned’s out today?” he asked. Peter nodded, not even knowing how to begin questioning how or why he noticed.

“Sick at home with strep. Betty’s worried out of her mind about him,” Peter rolled his eyes with a smile. “It was all MJ and I could do to convince her to go on the trip or at least stay at school instead of trying to ditch to go take care of him.”

Harley laughed, and Peter’s heart jumped again. Geez, why couldn’t Ned be there? As soon as Peter wished it, he took it back. He’d rather be nervous with Harley than nervous about him from afar.

Two hours later, Peter wasn’t so sure. Harley didn’t make matters any better by seeing that Peter brought a lunch and offered to buy him something extra so he wouldn’t have to survive the rest of the trip and then the bus ride back on only a sandwich and apple. Peter tried to argue, but Harley simply wasn’t having it. “I get paid well, and it’s not like I use much of it,” Harley shrugged Peter’s concerns off, and that was the end of the argument.

“Where do you work?” Peter asked as they ate lunch at a cafe table with MJ and Liz, who seemed to be having their own conversation. Peter was perfectly content to let it stay that way.

At the mention of work, Harley lit up like a firecracker. “I’m an intern at Stark Industries,” he grinned, starting to launch into an explanation of what he did, who he worked with, and how it worked. Peter remembered that once upon a time, if you said you worked at S.I., the kids would think you were cool, but the adults would look at you with pity or discontempt. It was well before Peter could work, of course, and before he even thought about the possibility of having a job, but he still remembered when one of their family friend’s company got bought and taken over by S.I. Thankfully, Iron Man had come into existence, and it was cool again for his ‘uncle’ to work where he did.

Peter zoned back in at the tail end of Harley’s explanation. Dissociation happened a lot more than it used to, so Peter was good at half listening and retaining just enough information to continue the conversation. Because of that, he managed to snag just enough information of the last sentence to keep the conversation going. “So you just get to spend most of the day working in a lab?”

Harley nodded in response. “Yeah! Sometimes I even get to work with Tony Stark,” he grinned, and Peter’s eyes went wide. _The_ Tony Stark? (Former) CEO and face of Stark Industries? _Iron Man_ ? Harley caught Peter’s excitement and seemed to read his mind. “Yes, _the_ Tony Stark,” he confirmed, and suddenly Peter was brimming with questions.

“Is he nice? Do you get to work on inventions with him? What do you do when you’re working with him? What do you do when you’re not working with him? How much do you work with him? Do you know any other Avengers? Have you ever worked on his suit?”

Harley laughed and held his hand up. “Slow down there, sweetheart,” he drawled, and Peter flushed sheepishly. “Yes, sometimes, it depends, it depends, maybe around half the time. I’ve met a few briefly, and yes, twice. Most of the time when I’m working with him, I’m helping him look for mistakes in programming or sorting through things. When I’m not, it’s usually the same thing but just for different programs. Sometimes I run errands for Ms. Potts. It really just depends on where they need the extra hands. I’ve met Nick Fury twice, and Captain America once,” Harley finished with a smile. “And before you ask any more questions, don’t apologize. Most people do, and I’m used to it by now.”

Peter snapped his mouth shut guiltily, for he had been about to do just that. “How long have you worked there?” he asked instead. He still felt bad for bombarding Harley with questions, but since he said it was okay to ask more. . . how could he not?

Harley went quiet as he thought it over. “Since I moved here, I guess.” He shrugged nonchalantly, as if his answer was no big deal.

Peter thought back to when Harley arrived, no more than a month or two after school started. He wasn’t here during homecoming for everyone to drool over, so. . . yes, it must’ve been a month and a half, almost at midterms. That was in October, and it was February now, so almost four months.

“How the hell did you even score an interview?” Peter asked incredulously.

“Didn’t have to, actually.” Harley looked smug.

“You _didn’t have to_? The fuck did you do to intern there and not even interview?”

“Tony owed my mom a favour. She cashed it in and asked him to temp me for a month after we moved. I guess I earned the job, since I’ve been there for awhile now.”

Peter’s eyes widened and he stared at Harley for a moment before breaking into a grin. “That’s so cool! Do you work every day?”

The rest of lunch went like that, with Peter asking questions excitedly and Harley answering them. Then lunch was over, and they were off to work on the trip objectives again. The field trip ended, and they were all piled onto the bus again to start the hour-long trip back. It started raining fifteen minutes in, and maybe Peter ended up dozing off on Harley’s shoulder, and maybe Harley ended up rubbing little circles on Peter’s shoulder while he slept, but that’s nobody’s business.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MJ kisses Peter to get him to shut up, because he's a twink and a bottom and will freeze at any sign of affection. But NOT in a straight way. That's for another fic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i know it's been months  
> but i'm finally updating cuz i got my own laptop  
> please don't witch hunt me i am juste. a liddol creacher

“MJ, stop it!”

“Make me!”

Peter let out a quiet shriek of laughter as MJ hit him with a pillow. “Ned, help! The she-beast is attacking me!”

Ned looked over at them from the couch, where he was playing on his Switch. “Dude, you know I can’t do anything to help,” he grinned at the two of them before turning back to his game.

“Betrayal! She bribed you to stand by while I get destr-” Peter got cut off with a pillow to the face and he dissolved into giggles again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ned waved him off absentmindedly, and MJ chimed in almost immediately.

“I didn’t bribe him! All I said was if he helped you I’d also attack him,” she grinned smugly. Peter groaned and made a swing at her with his pillow.

“That’s blackmail,” he accused, missing and swinging at her again before getting off balance and falling backwards into the blanket pile they had made on the floor.

MJ laughed and fell on top of him, halfway crushing him. “No it’s not, it’s just telling him the straight facts.”

“None of us are straight,” Peter deadpanned, squirming underneath her and trying without success to push her off. All she did was become dead weight and he was unable to get out from under her.

Ned, who was still halfway paying attention to the conversation, chimed in with a “I have a girlfriend,” and promptly received a pillow to the face from MJ.

“Yeah, and you’re also bi. Doesn’t count,” she shot back at him. “If I kiss Parker right now, am I straight? No. I’m still a lesbian. I probably just kissed him to get him to shut up because he’s always talking.”  
“Hey!” Peter exclaimed indignantly, and MJ promptly did just that. Peter turned a bright red and shoved her off. “Stop that!”

MJ laughed at him and rolled over until she was next to him. “People who don’t shut up get kissed,” she taunted, poking at Peter’s side with a grin. “They also get tickled. That’s the rules.”

Peter batted her hands away with little success. “Why don’t you ever kiss Ned then? He’s always talking about Star Wars this and Nintendo that and-” MJ jabbed him in the side and he broke off with a laugh.

“Because when I tell Ned to shut up, he does. When I tell you to shut up, you just keep talking. You’re insufferable, Parker.”

With a pout, Peter stuck his tongue out at MJ. “I am not! I’m baby!”

Ned didn’t even glance over before speaking. “Be nice to him, he’s baby.”

“You’re not baby,” MJ scoffed, reaching over and messing with Peter’s hair using both hands. “You’re a brat, maybe. But you’re definitely not baby.”

Peter looked up at her with puppy eyes, not bothering to push her hands away, and MJ begrudgingly took them away herself. “Maybe you’re a little baby. But only because you’re a twink and you can do those dumb puppy eyes,” she pretended to grumble.

Ned’s mom knocked on the door of the basement with a smile. “Sorry to interrupt, but pizza’s ready. You guys are welcome to eat down here if you want, I can just bring it out.”

Ned grinned up at her. “We can eat out here, that’d be great.” His mom disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a pizza, going back upstairs among a chorus of ‘thank you’s from the kids.

With a piece of pizza in his hand, Ned went back to his game one-handed, which was apparently easier than it sounded, because he was doing fine. MJ and Peter both resumed their conversation until Ned made a choked sound. “Guys,” he managed to get out through a mouthful of pizza. “Don’t move, but there’s a spider right over you.”

MJ and Peter looked up, and, true to what Ned said, there was indeed a spider slowly coming down between them. MJ looked at it in interest. “It doesn’t look like any spider I know,” she mentioned offhandedly, backing away a little. “Might be poisonous.”

Peter was already reaching for a cup. “Can someone get me a paper or something? I’m gonna put it outside.” Once he had the paper, and the spider was close enough, he carefully attempted to trap it under the cup. Instead of that successfully happening, the spider jumped out of the way suddenly. He managed to get it after a few tries, though, and handed the cup to MJ, who brought it up and looked at it through the cup.

“It looks kind of like a garden spider, but it’s red and blue instead of yellow and black,” she pointed out with interest. “I think I’m gonna keep it instead of letting it go.”

Ned rolled his eyes. “Of course you are. Go get one of the bug jars from the kitchen or whatever, just keep it away from me.” MJ did just that, returning from upstairs with the spider securely in the jar and a grin on her face.

“Oh, MJ, since you’re up, can you grab the first aid kit from the bathroom? Peter’s bleeding,” Ned said, and Peter looked down at his hand where Ned was pointing to see that he was indeed bleeding from what looked like a small bite.

“It must’ve bitten you while you were trying to catch it,” MJ said as she got the bandaids and neosporin out. “I think it’s just a discoloured garden spider, though. So it’s not venomous. All we have to do is,” she put a bandaid over the bite after applying neosporin, “do this! And it’ll be good as new in a few days.”

Peter shrugged and rubbed the bandaid lightly. “It doesn’t hurt, it just feels weird. No need to fuss,” he shot a look towards Ned, who was definitely worrying too much, “I’m fine.”

They forgot the incident and ended up falling asleep several hours later in a pile on the floor while watching their fourth movie of the night.

~~~~~~~~~~

Peter woke up on the ceiling.

Sure this was a dream, he didn’t panic at first. So he had superpowers now? Not a common theme in his dreams, but weirder ones had happened.

And then Peter remembered he never realized it was a dream while it was actually happening, and promptly started to freak out.

“Okay, so I’m stuck. On the ceiling. For no apparent reason. And I can’t unstick. Can I unstick?” He tried moving his hand. “Nope, can’t unstick. Can’t slide either. Can I-”

“What the fuck?”

All of his muttering had apparently woken MJ up, since she was on the floor beneath him staring up at him. “Am I still asleep or did Ned tape you up there?”

Peter laughed nervously. “Neither, I think.” He turned to look at MJ as best he could with his limited range of motion. “I’m stuck up here and I can’t figure out why. Could you maybe help? Kinda panicking up here.”

“Say no more,” MJ told him. She swung a blanket up and hooked it around Peter’s stomach before trying to tug him down like that. That didn’t work, so she woke Ned up, who, understandably, also freaked out for a moment before doing what she told him to.

It took them ten minutes, but they finally pulled Peter down and ended up in a tangled mess on the floor.

“Well, I never want to do that again,” MJ tried joking, reaching over and ruffling Peter’s hair. Peter flinched, and MJ pulled her hand back with an apologetic look. “I don’t think your hair will be sticky, Parker,” she said gently.

“But you don’t know that,” Peter pointed out. MJ nodded with pursed lips.

“You’re right. We _don’t_ know that. But we could find out!” MJ beamed at Peter. “We could do all sorts of endurance and ability tests to see what you can and can’t do.”

“That’s a good idea,” Ned added. “You have what, like, actual superpowers now? We should probably find out what they are and how strong you are and shit. You can’t tell me you’re not curious.”

Peter scrunched his face up. “But if I have ‘actual superpowers’, that means a lot of responsibility. Can’t I just. . . ignore them? Or tell Aunt May and see if she can help?”

“No!” Ned and MJ both said at the same time.

“Pete, if you have real actual superpowers, that’s like, really fucking wild! You can’t go telling adults until we’re sure what’s going on!” Ned exclaimed.

“But Aunt May’s a nurse, she can help figure out what’s going on,” Peter tried to reason, and Ned placed his hands on Peter’s shoulders.

“Peter. Dude. _Listen_ . You have _superpowers_ now. The first rule of being a superhero is not letting anyone know! Unless you’re Iron Man or something. And you kinda let us know without meaning to, but-”

Peter cut Ned off, eyes wide. “I can’t be a superhero! I’m only seventeen!”

Ned gave Peter a long, hard look. “You have superpowers,” he repeated, as if Peter didn’t hear him the first time. “Even if you don’t become a superhero, that’s a lot to deal with, and-”

MJ jumped in. “And you can’t just go telling people! You might get snatched by the government for tests or something. If the hospital found out, they might turn you in.” After catching sight of the worried expression adorning Peter’s face, MJ’s voice softened. “We just want you to be careful,” she told Peter gently. “I don’t wanna lose one of my best friends cuz he was too dumb to retain any of his self-preservation instincts.”

Peter gave her a weak smile, then rested his head in his hands. Ned reached over and rubbed his back gently, earning an appreciative sound from Peter. “So I can’t tell anyone,” he repeated, and MJ and Ned both nodded.

“And definitely not May,” MJ added. “Even if nothing bad comes of it, she’ll worry her ass off about you. She might even ground you from using your powers.” Ned laughed, and Peter huffed at him. “ _Any_ ways,” MJ continued, both of the boys quieting at her words, “we’ve got to figure all of this stuff out. But not right now, it’s,” she checked the clock, “3:47 in the fucking morning. I’m sure we all need sleep. We can talk about it in the morning.”

Ned rolled his eyes teasingly and mumbled an “Okay, Mom,” under his breath, earning him a jab in the side from MJ’s elbow. “Gah! Fine!” he exclaimed through quiet laughter, batting her arm away.

“Goodnight,” MJ told him pointedly, and Ned and Peter echoed it back. Ned fell asleep after a few minutes of watching YouTube, and MJ fell asleep almost immediately, but Peter stayed awake for a long, long time after the other two had gone to sleep, staring up at the ceiling in the dark and wondering what life would be like for him now.


End file.
